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Debris Limited Edition
Background Debris is a series of vertical scrolling space shooters released by Revival Studios. It was one of the earlier homebrew games where its graphics were rendered through bit-mapping, rather than vector graphics Gameplay Trivia Debris Limited Edition was followed by Debris Revisited in 2010. Programmer Martijn Van Wenting has stated previously that he intends to continue the series with the release of a Debris 2 (D:2). Links/review Click on the tabber below for a review. tab1= |-| Review= vectrex.nl review Introduction: Debris is the first game to be released by Revival Studios, and it is an ambitious one indeed. The game is a fully bitmap-based vertical shooter and features 16 levels filled enemy ships and asteroids, as well as huge end-bosses at the end of each level. The Packaging: The game comes in a standard plastic box. The artwork on the box looks really good, showing the game’s main ship flying through an asteroids field. The inside of the box is marked with the unique Limited Edition Serial-number. The cart and label design look like the original Vectrex games. The quality of the artwork and label looks as good as the original games. A manual is included with the game information and controls instructions. First impressions: The game starts off with a fading Revival Studios logo (along with a ‘revival studios’ sound through the VecVox) and goes straight to the main menu. The Debris logo looks nice and solid and the game music starts playing. There are options for a single game, dual player game or you can watch the credits. The credits screen has a nice 3D effect in the background. But lets quickly continue to the most important part of it all: the actual game. Playing the game: When playing the game for the first couple of times I get a familiar arcade feeling, it is a bit like a Vectrex version of Xevious, but with its own character. The controls are very easy to learn and the work nicely. The joystick takes care of the movement but you can enhance the moving speed with buttons 1 and 2. In the first levels things are quite easy, you’re shooting ships and dodging asteroids and at the end of each level you are faced with a larger end boss which will take some more fire to kill. Normal levels with moving enemies are mixed with faster-moving dodge-the-asteroids type levels to have more variation in the gameplay. When you moving up in levels the game gets harder, everything moves faster and the sway moves of some enemy ships makes them hard to hit. You have to be on your alert because some ships appear really quick and in high speed and the chance of colliding is bigger at the higher levels. The Graphics: Debris is a fully bitmap-based game and the graphics looks really good. Your main ship as well as enemy ships and asteroids are always crisp and without flicker. The space background moves in different layers and also various galaxy-clouds float by from time to time. The Music and Soundeffects: The music is that of a kind you should have in a game - simple and catchy and that’s what you get. The music is a catchy song that reminds me of the intro to the synth hit "Don’t go" with Yazoo from 1982 (hey, it’s the Vectrex era). Sound effects don’t come from the Vectrex unit. Unfortuanately, sound effects like ingame phrases, shots and explosions are only available if you run the game with a VecVox unit. For those of you who do own a VecVox unit, it is supported very well throughout the game (everything from the menu options and credits to the ingame shots and explosions are handled through the VecVox). Endbosses and Dual Player modes: Throughout the game you will meet 3 different types of end bosses. They are big and impressive and they will make your own ship look very tiny. There is a medium-sized ‘bomber’ ship which you will encounter at the end of most levels, but there are also 2 larger bosses which you will encounter later on in the game. The Dual Player mode is a great addition to the game. When playing in 2 player mode with a friend, the game becomes much easier to complete as you can lay down double the firepower. The gameplay here focuses more on who will get the highest score. There should also be some small eastereggs hidden in the game, however we have not been able to find them yet. Pros: - Great looking graphics and catchy music - Very nice and easy to use controls - Impressive end-bosses - Nice packaging Cons: - There could have been more variation between the different levels. - You need a VecVox to enjoy the sound effects. - No indication of the number of lives. The great things about Debris clearly overweight its drawbacks, you will enjoy a game with great graphics, great control and a difficulty level hard enough for you to wanting playing it again. Conclusion: Debris is the first game from Revival Studios and although it has some imperfections, it is a great game overall and you will definitely enjoy it. Debris will be a nice contribution to your Vectrex Collection and we are looking forward to upcoming releases from Revival Studios. Review written by Inger & Pelle Ankarberg Category: Vectrex games Category: Shooter Category: Homebrew Category:Reviews